Cape Cornwall to Sennen Cove: A walk and some prints.
Recently Vicki and I spent a few days in Cornwall taking in the sights. We walked the five miles from Cape Cornwall to Sennen Cove on a lovely day. I took along my Mamiya 645 Pro and some black and white and color film. The interchangeable backs may frustrate my wife at times but saves me from having to choose between color and black and white.. I started out with Ilford HP4+ and ended up with Fomapan 100.
My recent project to make my enlarger capable of printing up to 16x20" prints led me to think of a fitting print for the fantastic scenery we encountered. I thought of two panoramas one from the end and another the start of the journey to remember it by. I took the landscape view in mind and did some simple math using 1/2" borders. The width of the printed area would be 20" minus 1" or a 19" image. The height would accommodate both prints and so I divided the 16" by 2 and subtracted the 1/2" borders to give me 7". A 7x19" print was a strange ratio. However I prototyped it in Photoshop using scans of the negatives and I liked the result. Photoshop also helped me compose and visualize each print.
The process to create the prints on a single piece of paper was complex as I had to make both exposures in the proper position and orientation before developing the paper. Two images meant a change of negatives midway through. I set up my easel for the borders and 7x19 dimensions.
I was concerned that the whole setup would register properly and so I used the back of an old 16x20" print to check the setup by putting one end in the easel and tracing the inside of the easel frame, then flipping the paper around and tracing the inside of the easel frame again. This resulted in two rectangles and I was able to confirm the borders were correct and the edges of the exposed areas lined up nicely.
I would setup the bottom image first with the image upside down to me on the easel. The paper would then be exposed and then placed back in the light-tight box. Before the replacing the print I marked which direction was the top of the print and placed an X on the back behind the exposed area of the paper so that I would be able to get it oriented properly when it came out of the box again.
I would then place and position the new negative checking its composition against the Photoshop version on my iPad. (This time not inverted on the easel.) Each print required its own test strip to get the exposure correct.
Taking the half exposed paper out of the box I checked the back of the print to ensure I had the un-exposed area under the enlarger. I also had to be careful in each exposure to make sure no stray light from the enlarger fell on the other half of the paper; a significant risk with the long wide crop.
With the exposure made I developed the prints in my 12x16" trays. This I do by putting the narrow end (16") of the paper in the wide end of the tray and feeding it back and forth making sure the paper is passed through under the developer. Stop and Fix are done the same way. Finally a long wash in the sink. For this print I used my Negra Portrene paper and got good results. The result is a composite scan and so suffers from some stitching and scanning faults but I think gives an impression of the result. It makes for a nice departure from normally dimensioned prints I think.
My recent project to make my enlarger capable of printing up to 16x20" prints led me to think of a fitting print for the fantastic scenery we encountered. I thought of two panoramas one from the end and another the start of the journey to remember it by. I took the landscape view in mind and did some simple math using 1/2" borders. The width of the printed area would be 20" minus 1" or a 19" image. The height would accommodate both prints and so I divided the 16" by 2 and subtracted the 1/2" borders to give me 7". A 7x19" print was a strange ratio. However I prototyped it in Photoshop using scans of the negatives and I liked the result. Photoshop also helped me compose and visualize each print.
The process to create the prints on a single piece of paper was complex as I had to make both exposures in the proper position and orientation before developing the paper. Two images meant a change of negatives midway through. I set up my easel for the borders and 7x19 dimensions.
I was concerned that the whole setup would register properly and so I used the back of an old 16x20" print to check the setup by putting one end in the easel and tracing the inside of the easel frame, then flipping the paper around and tracing the inside of the easel frame again. This resulted in two rectangles and I was able to confirm the borders were correct and the edges of the exposed areas lined up nicely.
I would setup the bottom image first with the image upside down to me on the easel. The paper would then be exposed and then placed back in the light-tight box. Before the replacing the print I marked which direction was the top of the print and placed an X on the back behind the exposed area of the paper so that I would be able to get it oriented properly when it came out of the box again.
I would then place and position the new negative checking its composition against the Photoshop version on my iPad. (This time not inverted on the easel.) Each print required its own test strip to get the exposure correct.
Taking the half exposed paper out of the box I checked the back of the print to ensure I had the un-exposed area under the enlarger. I also had to be careful in each exposure to make sure no stray light from the enlarger fell on the other half of the paper; a significant risk with the long wide crop.
With the exposure made I developed the prints in my 12x16" trays. This I do by putting the narrow end (16") of the paper in the wide end of the tray and feeding it back and forth making sure the paper is passed through under the developer. Stop and Fix are done the same way. Finally a long wash in the sink. For this print I used my Negra Portrene paper and got good results. The result is a composite scan and so suffers from some stitching and scanning faults but I think gives an impression of the result. It makes for a nice departure from normally dimensioned prints I think.
 |
| Finished Print (Sennen Cove top Fomapan 100) (Cape Cornwall bottom Ilford FP4+) Printed on Negra Portrene 16x20" FB paper. |
Comments